This is me (at 6 yrs. old) with my sister, TyKia "Ty" (then 9), late grandmother, Grandma Pearl, and my cousin-buddy, De'Ante (then 6). This was taken at my Grandma Pearl's former house by my mother. My sis and I were both dressed in red turtlenecks and blue-jean skirts, looking like we're twins! While my sister, cousin, and late maternal grandmother were smiling, I was not, with my eyes closed. Actually, it was copied in black-and-white.
This is what I painted in 2010: My Andy Warhol-type painting. I picked up that inspiration from whom I never heard: Andy Warhol. In my version, I painted four boom boxes in red, blue, green, and yellow.
This is me (then 23 years old), posing with my fingers under my eyes. It a selfie, which was taken by myself on Friday, January 13, 2012 (my late great-grandmother's birthday).
In my second blog, The Top Ten Things I Like to Do in Arymaina, Here are my "Top-Ten" things I like to do when I'm in "Ary Mania" (the term that means I live in my own world full of adventures, exaggerations, and outcomes), ranging from playing on my laptop to discovering new things:
This is one of my favorite fantasy cars: The Mustang in Pink. Someday, I would like to go for a good drive to "Arymania", but in real life, I don't drive.
This was one of my favorite electronic devices since adolescence: My Panasonic AM/FM cassette player/recorder, to which I listened when I was in my mid-teens. I used to obtain it in Christmas 2003, but I lost the first one in spring 2004. I obtained another one again in Christmas 2004, but I broke it in 2005. Now, I rarely think about it.
10. Playing on My Lenovo with Minimum or No Distractions. When I'm alone in "Arymania", I would go in my yellow room (which was painted a year ago), sit on my bed, hook up my computer and rock back in forth with my headphones plugged in and with music on, imaging what's it like living in my comfort world by creating "fake" tabloids about pretend people and "fake" documents on it.
This is my Lenovo Laptop, but mine has a numerical keypad and two stickers on the back of my Lenovo: an "Apple" logo sticker and a Mickey Mouse sticker.
9. Doing My Workout in Different Time Frames. For example, whether I'm in the basement (when no one else's around) or in my room, I would often do stretches and push-ups and run on the family treadmill or if not, I would put on my Victoria Johnson workout HDD and workout along with them.
This is a VHS cover of Victoria's H.A.B.I.T. workout, although it seems to be different from the one I have on my HDD (hard disk drive).
Here is my workout equipment, which I still use to this day. This pic was taken in my family's basement on Wednesday, February 11, 2015.
8. Drawing and Painting What You Imagine and Embellish. Example: I am an excellent painter. When I think of something I want to either sketch, draw, or paint (or both), I would use my imagination by creating art either with pencils (colored and regular), with charcoal, with oil pastels, or with paints and brushes. Here's some of my paintings I did while using my creativity:
This is me, imaging in my late 40s in my painting, doing my artwork in my yellow bedroom with my college pennants and my art supplies nearby. This was taken on May 8, 2013.
This my last year's painting I did in 2015. In my painting, there were two zebras in a chocolaty-tan-like background.
7. Reading with Pleasure and For School. Whether aloud or silently, I read everything I can get my hands on, ranging from my favorite books I checked out from the library to the books I rarely read much at my house.
These are my books I never read that much. This pic was taken at my room, using a sheet over my bedroom door as a makeshift photo shoot. That was 2015.
This is one of my favorite library books, The Sibling Slam Book. I always check out the book from my neighborhood library and read this book all the time since summer 2011.
6. Eating My Favorite "Weird" Foods That Make Sense To Me. While most people claim that eating "weird" foods is ridiculous, it doesn't bother me. I always like to eat favorite "weird" foods that range from Salads with "Wheaties" brand cereal and dried cranberries on top to Chocolate Cake-like donuts with chocolate milk to Cap'n Crunch cereal and popcorn of any flavor mixed together (which I never had).
This is exactly not what I had in mind, but I enjoyed imagining what my "weird" snack would be like. Example: In "Arymainia", if I have nothing to snack on, I would imagine that I grab a medium-sized bowl, bring out my regular Cap'n Crunch cereal (or any other sugary cereals I can find), pop some popcorn in the microwave (pre-popped bag popcorn is preferable), and mix them together with M&Ms candy. Then, I served it either with any flavor of smoothie or with a regular coke (Coca-Cola).
This is me and my mom's favorite soft drink of all-time: The original, Coca-Cola (or Coke, for short).
5. Drinking With a Routine For Everything. Example: I would only drink orange juice every morning of the day or every mid-day (or both) for breakfast. For the rest of the day, I sometimes would drink regular Coke, PowerAdes, Fantas, or water, whether I'm relaxing at home or out and about.
This is what I always drink either in the early morning or in the mid-morning: Orange Juice.
This is one of my favorite beverages I sometimes drink: Mountain Berry Blast PowerAde.
This is what I usually drink either during the day or at some nights: The Original Classic Coca-Cola, whether it's from a can or a bottle.
4. Making Predictions for All Types of Occasions: Whether it's pregnancies (single and/or multiple births), weddings, or graduations, I always grab a pack of ruled index cards (white or colored or both) and some pens (black, blue, red, or green), write down either an upcoming pregnancy or a wedding (i.e., writing down the birthdate of the new children), and hand them out to people outside my family on special occasions (e.g. birthday parties, weddings, or other gatherings). If some things do not go in my prediction, I would start over, plan it out, try a different prediction, and do something else.
This is what I've been doing ever since I was in high school: using note cards and ink pens to create predictions in pregnancies and weddings and rewards. I still have these prediction supplies to use to this day.
3. Repeating Phrases, Comments, and Other Things That Came Natural To Me: I have a great knack for and a niche in repeating various phrases, comments, (the smart-mouth ones), jokes, and dialogues I heard from TV shows to films or videos. When I was a toddler, I sang commercial jingles without meaning and was mostly nonverbal until I was four years old. Now, I speak normally and my family couldn't even get me to stop talking. Still, I have echolalia, which means I constantly and continuously repeat either what I've heard others say in a different manner or what I heard either on TV, in films, or in music videos (only in private). Also, I talk to myself all the time.
This is what the definition of "echolalia" means. My echolalia is one of the basic hallmarks of my autism.
2. Driving with Imagination. Since I cannot drive any vehicle in real life due to my very short attention span, I always drive with imagination by going to an auto show with my dad and little brother.
This is me (at 20 years old), driving an SUV at a Detroit Auto Show at Cobo Hall on Jan. 23, 2009. This pic was taken by my dad.
This is me (at 21 years old), driving a red truck with my little brother, Semaj (then 3, who was in cornrows before obtaining his haircut). This pic was taken on Jan. 24, 2010 by my dad at the Cobo Hall's Detroit Auto Show.
1. Discovering Something New I Never Tried Before. Despite a constant, usual need for four things: routine, order, predictability, and detail, I learned to discover something new in my life with autism, either with help from my family or sometimes on my own. These are some of the things I discovered something different: taking pictures of my items, using bed sheets as background scenes for my photography projects, becoming a proud auntie to my nephew and niece, obtaining a new tablet, etc.
This a pic of my dad's fire memorabilia and a fire truck I took for my photography assignment. I used a red sheet for my makeshift photo shoot.
This is me (at 22 years old), holding my goddaughter, Lauryn, who is my cousin's youngest daughter. This pic was taken via phone by my sister, Ty on July 11, 2010 at Detroit's St. John Hospital.
In the end of the Top Ten Things I Like to Do in Arymania, I will always let you and everyone know that while dealing with autism proves to be difficult for me at first, I learned to use my talents, skills, and a good imagination, which I call "Arymanina". My dream is to one day have a studio of my own and to write a book about my experiences, adventures, and outcomes with autism, which I will call, Arymania: Celebrating The Adventures and Memories of My Life with Autism (soon to be released and published under the Ardewil label, 2019 or later).
This is me @ 24 years old in 2012. This pic was taken by myself.
